The present invention generally relates to a motor vehicle and more particularly, to a stop-state retaining arrangement for use in a motor vehicle, which is adapted to retain a foot-operated brake pedal of the motor vehicle at a depressed position in a depression stroke thereof.
Commonly, when a motor vehicle is to be advanced on a sloping road, it has been required to start the motor vehicle by properly depressing three foot-operated pedals, i.e., accelerator pedal, clutch pedal and brake pedal, but such an operation is generally difficult, calling for some experience on the part of a driver. Therefore, a hand-brake has been utilized in place of the brake pedal. In this case, however, for a driver not accustomed to operations in starting on sloping roads, there has been a possibility that, even if the hand brake is utilized, the motor vehicle does not successfully advance, but is undesirably retreated against the intention.
In order to eliminate such an inconvenience as described above, it may be so arranged, for example, to automatically hold the brake pedal at its depressed position during advancing on a slope for retaining wheels of the motor vehicle in a brake-applied state or to automatically release the brake pedal and wheels from such state.
As one example of a stop-state retaining device as referred to above, there has conventionally been proposed an arrangement in which, with ratchet teeth being provided at a head portion of a brake pedal, a solenoid is controlled through energization by signals of a vehicle speed sensor and an accelerator switch so as to drive a ratchet pawl which engages the ratchet teeth, thereby to automatically retain or release the brake pedal.
However, the above known arrangement adopts an electrical control, and therefore, the control becomes very complicated, while moreover, since said arrangement is intended to be normally mounted on a so-called "automatic" motor vehicle, it can not be applied, as it is, to a so-called "manual" motor vehicle having a clutch pedal.
Incidentally, upon consideration of the operation during advancing on a sloping road for the "manual" motor vehicle, when the brake pedal is depressed and the wheels are braked, the clutch pedal is also depressed, with the clutch disengaged, while, as the clutch pedal is gradually released from the depression so as to be in a state of so-called half-clutch, the brake pedal is loosened to release the wheels from braking for enabling the motor vehicle to advance.
Accordingly, in a "manual" motor vehicle, as a method for automatically retaining or releasing the brake pedal in the manner as described above, it may be considered to associate the brake pedal and the clutch pedal with each other. Moreover, in the above case, if it is so arranged that the position of the clutch pedal at which the brake pedal is released, is adjustable according to gradients of sloping roads, a smoother advancing on such slopes may be expected.